Traffic signal



P 2, 1941- w. H. EBERT 25254376 TRAFFIC S I GNAL Filed Aug. 2, 1937 4Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 2, 1941. w H, EBERT 2,254,676

TRAFFIC S IGNAL Filed Aug. 2, 195'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. H. EBERT TRAFFICSIGNAL Sept. 2, 1941.

Filed Aug. 2, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED srssFiQE This invention relates to an improved tramc signal adapted fordisposition at roadway intersections or other suitable places forcontrolling the movement of trafiic.

One object of the invention is to provide a traffic signal embodyingmeans for indicating, on the faces of the lenses employed, the passageof a predetermined amount of time before the change of lights in thesignal so that persons waiting at the intersection may be advised of theproper time within which to cross and the possibility of their beingcaught in the middleof the intersection at the change of the lights,with possible resultant serious injury by moving traffic, eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a traflic signal whereinmeans are employed for clearly indicating street numbers, names or thelike.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which will be employed in conjunction with a control boxhaving means therein for supplying current uniformly to a driving motorin the signal and to the lights, and, at predetermined intervals, tomagnetic clutches employed, whereby rotative movement wil becommunicated through the clutches to the indicating means on the facesof the lenses, and the lenses illuminated at the same time so that thecondition of the intersection may be readily made known to a motorist orpedestrian approaching from any direction.

A further object of the invention is generally to improve devices ofthis character.

Other and incidental objects of the invention, not mentionedhereinabove, will become apparent as the description of the inventionproceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a par-t of the application:

Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved signal. Figure 2 is a verticalsectional View of the signal.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View on the line 33 of Figure 2,looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the electrical circuit employed.

Figure 5 is a side elevation showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, whereinlike numerals of reference designate like parts throughout the variousviews, the numeral I indicates generally the casing of my improvedsignal. The casing is substantially rectangular in shape and is providedwith side walls, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The casing is formed preferably of heavygauge sheet metal and is provided with a removable top or cover 6 and abottom wall 1. The top or cover 6 is provided medially thereof, at itsupper side, with a supporting lug 8 adapted to receive, through anaperture therein, a supporting cable 9 for permitting mounting of thedevice at the center of an intersection thereabove or in any othersuitable position.

The casing I is provided medially of its height with a partition [0which divides the casing into upper and lower compartments and [2. Pairsof oppositely disposed lenses [3 and I4 are carried in the side Walls 2,3, 4 and 5 of the casing in the upper and lower compartments, one of'said pair of lenses being red in color and the other of the pair oflenses being green. It should be understood that each of the side wallswill be provided with one red and one green lens disposed in verticalalinement, in accordance with conventional practice. The lenses arecarried by frames l5 which are mounted infront of suitable openings inthe walls of the casing and these frames are formed with overhangingflanges l6. Visors I! are connected with the frames l5 and serve todirect light beams emitted from the lamps l8 in the casing in onegeneraldirection. The lamps l8 are, in the upper compartment, four innumber and are removable mounted in sockets H] which are secured to theunder surface of the top 6. Preferably four lamps l8a, of similarconstruction, are carried in the lower compartment on a bracket l9awhich is of substantially cross shape and is mounted on the bottom wall1 within the casing. One of the lamps l8 and I80. is disposed behindeach of the lenses of the pairs of lenses l3 and I4 so that when saidlamps are illuminated in a manner to be described hereinafter, a strongbeam of light will be passed through the lenses. v

Mounted in the frame l5 forwardly of the lenses l3 and it are clearglass lenses 20 which are limited against outward movement'by theflanges l6 and against inward movement by spacing rings 2! which aredisposed between said colored lenses and said clear glass lenses. Therings 2|, of course, effectually space the lenses l3 and I4 and thelenses 2!) from each other and define sub-compartments 22. In order toretain thelenses in place in the frames IS in both the upper and lowercompartments. I provide brackets 23 which are diametrically verticallydisposed in the casing and are mounted 1 on-the inner surfaces of theWalls 2, 3, 4 and 5 adjacent the openings through which the lenses arepassed prior to mounting in the frames l5. Clamping rings 24 aredisposed between the inner surfaces of the colored lenses of the pairsof lenses l3 and I4 and said brackets 23, and these clamping rings areengaged by the brackets 23 for permitting effectual clamping of thelenses in position. The brackets 23 include bearing sleeves 24 which areadapted to journal the opposite corresponding outer end portions ofshafts 25 which extend through the lenses l3 and I4, as well as throughthe clear glass lenses 20, and are provided with knobs 28 at their outerend portions exteriorly of the sub-compartments 22. The shafts 25 areprovided with indicating hands 21 which are disposed within thesub-compartments 22 and are adapted to rotate over the colored glasslenses l3 and !4. The shafts 25 are provided at their correspondinginner end portions with beveled gears 28. Preferably four of the shaftsare provided in each compartment and they are, as best seen in Figures 2and 3 of the drawings, disposed each at right angles to the other andeach of said shafts has one of the beveled gears 28 secured to its innerend for engagement with a beveled gear 29 which is carried by a drivingsleeve 33 having an open upper end provided with a key 'slot 3|.Axmagnetic shoe 32 is provided and has a stem 33 and a key 34 which isengageable in the key slot 3|. I have shown the beveled gear 29 disposedin the lower compartment, but; as' will be seen in Figure 2, a likearrangement of the parts 29, 30, 3|, 32, 33 and 34 is carried in theupper compartment. Springs 35 surround. the driving sleeves and areadapted for retracting the magnetic shoes 32 and preventingdisengagement of the stems 33 from the sleeves 30. It will be seen thatrotation of the shoes 32 will transmit rotative movement to the beveledgears 29 so that each of the gears 28 will be rotated and the indicatinghands 21 rotated within the sub-compartments 22. In order to retain thebeveled gears 28 in proper operative relation with the beveled gears 29,I provide bearing brackets 36 which are substantially cross shape andare formed with bearings 31 journaling the shafts 25 adjacent thebeveled gears 23. One of the bearing brackets 36 is carried in each ofthe compartments and will journal the ends of the four shafts carried ineach compartment.

Mounted on the partition III is a motor 38 which is provided with areduction gear 39. A drive shaft 40 is carried by the reduction gear andis provided with magnetic clutch members 4| and 42. The magnetic clutchmember 4! is disposed in the compartment H while the member 42 islocated in the compartment l2, and both of said clutch members aredisposed in close spaced relation to the shoes 32 in each of thecompartments. A transformer 43 and a magnetic rectifier 44 are carriedon the partition 10 and are adapted to supply electric current to themagnetic clutch members 4! and42, which clutch members are formed with apreferably laminated core of soft iron. It will be understood that whenthe motor is operating for rotating the magnetic clutch members andcurrent is passed from the transformer and rectifier to the clutchmembers through suitable collector brushes, or in any other desiredmanner, theclutch members will be energized for attracting the shoes 32thereto and thus transmitting rotative movement to the sleeves 36 andthe beveled gears 29 so that rotative movement will be transmitted tothe indicating hands 21. The indicating hands will be caused to rotatewithin the subcompartments for indicating the passage of a predeterminedamount of time. A fixed indicating hand 45 is secured within each of thesubcompartments 22, on the shafts 25, and is adapted to act as a guideso that it may be made known when the indicating hands 21 have made acomplete revolution. The speed of rotation of the shafts 25 will, ofcourse, depend upon the speed of the reduction gear 39 and the ratiobetween the beveled gears 29 and 28. The motor is adapted to rotate atall times at a uniform speed so that possible variations in speed causedby sudden stopping and starting of the motor will not affect therotation of the movable indicating hands 21. The fixed indicating handis provided with an adjusting nut 45a for permitting setting thereof.

In the lower end portion of the lower compartment l2 and located in thewalls 2, 3, 4 and 5 thereof, are openings 46 which are adapted to carrymagnifying lenses 4'! therein. The magnifying lenses are held in placeby means of frames 48 having overhanging flanges 45 thereon which areadapted to firmly clamp the lenses 4'! in position in the openings 46.Screws 50 are passed through the frames 43 for effectually securing theframes in place on the walls of the casing. The lenses 4'! are adaptedto be disposed in front of suitable indicia of translucent formation sothat light from the bulbs [8a may pass through the indicia and throughthe magnifying lenses for permitting ready reading of the indicia bypersons at the intersection. The indicia will, of course, preferablyrepresent street names or numbers.

In Figure 4 of the drawings, I have shown diagrammatically, a wiringdiagram of my improved traffic signal and it will be seen that aconductor 5| connects one terminal of the m0tor 3fl with a common groundterminal while a conductor 52 connects the other terminal of the motorWith a suitable current source, indicated at 53. It will be seen that,as stated, the motor will be caused to rotate as long as the current isflowing through the conductors 5| and 52. The numerals 54, 55, 56 and 51indicate collector brushes of a control box which is adapted to supplycurrent intermittently to the traffic signal so that when current ispassing through the brush 54 it will be led through a conductor 55a toone terminal of the lamps I 8 which may be designated as those behindthe green lenses, and thence through a conductor 56a to one terminal ofa pair of the lamps IBa which will be designated as those behind the redlenses in the lower compartment, and thence back to the ground. From thetransformer 43, conductors 59 are led to the rectier 44 and thence tothe collector brushes 56 and 51 which are adapted to transfer thecurrent to the magnetic clutch members 4| and 42. The current is ledfrom said magnetic clutch members to the ground through the partitionll) which is, of course, grounded to the casing. If desired, theconductor 62 may be utilized for grounding the magnetic clutch members.The lamps l8 disposed behind the red lenses and the lamps I8a disposedbehind the green lenses are connected to the brush 55 by means of aconductor 63 and are subsequently connected to the ground by means of aconductor 64.,

As shown fragmentarily at 66 in Figure 1, suitable partitions may beemployed for defining a separate compartment for each of the lamps.

It is believed that the operation of my improved traflic signal will beunderstood from the foregoing. However, it may be stated that thecontrol box or source of current supply 53, may be of any desiredconstruction as it does not form a part of my invention. The control boxis, however, adapted to supply an intermittent flow of current for anypredetermined length of time to the brushes 3, 55, Stand 57', so thatthe lamps l8 and I8a, disposed behind'the red'an'd green lenses in theupper and lower compartments, will be illuminated forindicatingalternate red and green signals at the intersection. The drum of thecontrol box is shown at 53a and said drum is provided with collectorrings 531).

As will be observed, the arrangement of electrical wiring employedpermits the operation of the movable indicating hands simultaneouslywith the energization of the lamps l8 and 48a in such a manner that whenred beams are projected to face opposite sides of an intersection andgreen beams are projected to face the other opposite sides of theintersection at right angles to said first mentioned sides, theindicating hands will begin to move about the faces of the lenses andwill continue to move until the predetermined period of time for thelights to remain on, for permitting trafiic to travel in a givendirection, is up. During the short period in which the lights arechanging, the indicating hands will hesitate and, after the lights havechanged, said indicating hands will continue to rotate for the nextpredetermined period of time. A pedestrianor motorist will thus be ablenot only to ascertain the condition of the intersection, by the use ofmy device, but will also be able to learn the amount of time duringwhich the signal will remain in either the red or green signalingposition.

Referring now to the modification of the invention, as shown in Figure 5of the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates in general a casing which isof the same general construction as that shown in the preferred form ofthe invention. The casing is, of course, rectangular in shape and isprovided with lens openings on all sides at the top and bottom of thecasing. The openings are indicated at H and are adapted to have coloredlenses mounted therein. Secured to the margins of the openings arevisors 12 which are of similar construction to the visors ll.Intermediate the casing and between the openings H at the top of thecasing and those at the bottom thereof are located rectangular openingsM which extend throughout the major portion of the width of the sides ofthe casing and are adapted to be closed by lenses 15 which are held inposition by means of visor frames 16 having integral visors l7 thereon.The lenses 15 are adapted to permit the diffusion of light from thecaution signal bulb-s 18 which are shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 andare adapted to be illuminated during the caution period.

Mounted in the casing are shafts l9, shown in dotted lines and which areadapted to be supported by means of a circular supporting bracket 80also shown in dotted lines. The construction is similar to that shown at36 and 31 in Figure 2 of the drawings. Indicating hands 8| and 82 arecarried on the shafts 19 in a construction identical with that shown inthe preferred form. Brackets 83 and 84 are carried at both the upper andlower sections of the casing and are adapted to support driving shafts85 which carry driving gears 86 thereon. It will be understood that, asin the preferred form, duplicate structures are carried in both theupper and lower sections of the casing. A common driving shaft 81 is,how ever, employed. This driving shaft is supported by the brackets 84and extends throughout substantially the entire central portion of thecasing. The driving shaft is provided, at its upper end, with a pinion88 which meshes with the uppermost gear 86 and, near its lower end, thedriving shaft 8'! is provided with a drive pinion 89. At its lower endthe driving shaft 8'! carries a clutch member 90 which is keyed againstrotation on the shaft by a key 9! and is permitted longitudinal downwardmovement by means of a slot 92. A spring 93 normally retains the clutchmember 90 in upward position. As shown at 94, a magnet headis employed.This magnet head. or element is connected to a motor 95 located in thebottom of the casing. The operation of the motor and clutch member isidentical with that of the preferred form. At 96 are shown lenses whichare intended to be of the clear glass variety and have mounted'therebehind, as shown in dotted lines, display lamps 91. The lenses 536and the lampsfi! may be purely for the purpose of illumination. On'theother hand, if. desired, a stenciled plate having street indications outthereout may be placed behind the lenses so that the lamps willclearly'show to the passerby the names or numbers of the streets .whosecrossing defines the intersection. The operation'of the modified form ofthe invention takes place in an identical manner with that'of thepreferred form .withthe exception that but one common shaft, the shaft87, and one clutch arrangement is needed, it bee ing understood that theindicating mechanism will operate on both the upper and lower sectionsof the casing at identical speeds irrespectiveof the warning to begiven. Greater simplicity in this form of the invention is believed tohave been achieved. Further description is not thought to be necessary.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a traffic signal, a casing, an indicating hand carried by thecasing, a shaft carried by the casing for mounting the indicating hand,continuously rotatable means in the casing, and means energizable forintermittently connecting the shaft and indicating hand with saidcontinuously rotatable means whereby said continuously rotatable meanswill transmit rotative movement for a predetermined period of time tothe indicating hand for indicating the passage of the predeterminedperiod of time.

2. In a traffic signal, a casing having a partition definingcompartments and having a pair of spaced lenses carried by the frames,indicating hands carried between the lenses, shafts carried by thecasing and projecting through the lenses for mounting said indicatinghands, beveled gears carried by the shafts at their corresponding innerends, bearing brackets supporting the inner ends of said shafts, adriving sleeve associated with the shafts and having a beveled gearmeshing with the beveled gears of said shafts, a magnetic shoeassociated with the driving sleeve and having a stem provided with akey, said key slidably connecting the stem with said driving sleeve, aspring carried by the driving sleeve and preventing displacement of themagnetic shoe, a motor mounted in the easing and adapted for continuousrotation, a reduction gear carried by the motor, a magnetic clutchmember carried by the reduction gear, and means for energizing theclutch member for 4- attracting the magnetic shoe whereby rotativemovement will be imparted to the driving sleeve, the shafts and theindicating hands during a predetermined period of time of rotation ofsaid motor whereby the passage of said predetermined period of time willbe indicated exteriorly of the casing.

3. In a trafiic signal, a casing, a partition separating the easing intoupper and lower compartments, lenses carried by the casing in said upperand lower compartments, indicating hands mounted to rotate over thefaces of said lenses, shafts carried in the upper and lower compartmentsand mounting said indicating hands, a motor mounted on the partition andhaving a reduction gear and a shaft projecting into said upper and lowercompartments, said motor being continuously rotatable, magnetic clutchmembers mounted on the opposite ends of the shafts within said upper andlower compartments and being selectively energizable, driving sleeves,means rotatably connecting said driving sleeves with said shafts in saidupper and lower compartments, and magnetic shoes movably carried by thedriving sleeves and shiftable by selective energization of said magneticclutch members into engagement with said clutch members whereby rotativemovement of the motor through said reduction gear will be imparted tothe indicating hands for indicating the passage of a predeterminedperiod of time.

4. In a traffic signal, a casing having a partition dividing said easinginto upper and lower compartments, lenses carried by the casing, shaftscarried by the casing in each of the compartments, said shafts beingadapted to project through the lenses, movable indicating hands securedto the shafts and adapted to rotate over the faces of certain of thelenses, a motor carried in the casing and mounted on the partition andbeing adapted for continuous rotation, said motor having a reductiongear provided with a shaft extending into said upper and lowercompartments, magnetic clutch members carried by said shaft, magneticresponsive means carried in the compartments and rotatably connectedwith the shafts for cooperating with the magnetic clutch members forimparting rotative movement to the shafts and said movable indicatinghands, lamps carried in the compartments and adapted to project signalbeams through the lenses, and means for supplying electric currentintermittently and selectively to the lamps in the compartments and tothe magnetic clutch members whereby selective rotative movement of themovable indicating hands and illumination of the lamps will take place,said movable indicating hands serving to indicate the passage on thefaces of the lenses of a predetermined period of time during which thelamps remain illuminated. 5. In a trafiic signal, a casing having sidewalls, a bottom wall and a cover, means carried by the cover forpermitting suspension of the casing, a partition dividing the casinginto upper and lower compartments, lenses carried by the side walls,lamps behind the lenses for projecting signal beams therethrough, shaftsextending through the lenses, movable indicating hands carried by theshafts and adapted to swing over the faces of the lenses, bracketsjournaling the shafts at their forward ends and serving to retain thelenses in place, and means for rotating the hands.

WILLIAM H. EBERT.

